# Alexander Klein, "Consciousness is Motor: William James on Mind and Action" (Oxford UP, 2025)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-network-529292/alexander-klein-consciousness-is-motor-william-james-on-mind-and-action-oxford-up-2025
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-network-529292/alexander-klein-consciousness-is-motor-william-james-on-mind-and-action-oxford-up-2025.md
Podcast: [New Books Network](https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-network-529292)
Published: 2026-05-10T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK4092813204.mp3?updated=1778223657
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK4092813204.mp3?updated=1778223657
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Duration seconds: 3980

## Resource

When it comes to consciousness, William James is well-known for his descriptions of it rather than his theory of it and its relation to the body. In Consciousness is Motor: William James on Mind and Action (Oxford UP, 2025), Alexander Klein elaborates James’ theory of the evolutionary function of consciousness and how conscious states are always linked to the body and always trigger bodily motion (from physiological changes to purposive behavior). Klein, who is Canada Research Chair and Professor of Philosophy at McMaster University, describes the vivisection experiments with headless frogs that led theorists to deny that consciousness was necessary for purposive action or to affirm that consciousness depended on the whole nervous system, not just the brain. James instead proposed an essential link between consciousness and purposive action in which the latter required an ability to entertain “absent” (future) sensations. Klein’s book situates James in relation to contemporary debates regarding the functional role of consciousness, the search for neural correlates of and behavioral markers of consciousness, and the embodiment of mind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

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